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Army frowns
on Dungeons and Dragons

IDF says players are detached from reality and automatically
given a low security clearance

By Hanan Greenberg
Published: 02.28.05, 14:17 / Israel News

Does the Israel Defense Forces believe incoming recruits
and soldiers who play Dungeons and Dragons are unfit for
elite units? Ynet has learned that 18-year-olds who tell
recruiters they play the popular fantasy game are automatically
given low security clearance.

“They're detached from reality and suscepitble to
influence,” the army says.

Fans of the popular roleplaying game had spoken of rumors
of this strange policy by the IDF, but now the army has
confirmed that it has a negative image of teens who play
the game and labels them as problematic in regard to their
draft status.

So if you like fantasy games, go see the military psychologist.

Dungeons and Dragons (also known as D&D) has been a
popular roleplaying game for decades and is based on a fantasy
world.

One player assumes the role of “Dungeon Master,”
which entails directing the game and controlling the labyrinth,
while the others select from a large selection of characters
that includes warriors, magicians, dwarfs and thieves.

The game focuses on the results of decisions made by the
players as determined by the roll of the dice.

In a more "active" version of the game, players
leave the table and go out, dressed as the characters they
assume for the game, along with the requisite equipment
of swords (not real) to play outside, usually in the forest
or woods. Most D&D players do not don costumes, and
participants in such costume games are called "LARPers"
(for live-action role playing).

'Simply detached from reality'

Thousands of youth and teens in Israel play D&D, fighting
dragons and demons using their rich imaginations. The game
has also increased in popularity due to the "Lord of
the Rings" trilogy.

However the IDF does not approve of this unusual hobby
and prevents D&D players from being considered for sensitive
army positions by labeling them with low security clearance.

"We
have discovered that some of them are simply detached from
reality," a security source told Ynet.

Game enthusiasts
are aware of their problematic image in the army and prefer
to maintain their anonymity. Many of them are from the former
Soviet Union, where the game is very popular.

In Israel there
are thousands of players, between the ages 16 to 35, and
include lawyers, high-tech workers and businessmen. Matan,
22, and Igor, a 21-year-old IDF soldier, organize activities
for groups of players. Soon hundreds of fans are expected
to meet in a forest in the southern part of Israel for a
two-day game of pure fantasy.

"It's not
a game of winners and losers," Matan says, "but
rather entry into another world with stories and plot changes."

He is aware
of the game's problematic reputation, especially in the
IDF. The army is not indifferent to the unique hobby and
is trying to locate soldiers who in their free time dress
up as witches and play in forests.

'The game indicates
a weak personality'

A security official
tells Ynet there are specific criteria for deciding the
level of a soldier's security clearance.

"One of
the tests we do, either by asking soldiers directly or through
information provided us, is to ask whether they take part
in the game," he says. "If a soldier answers in
the affirmative, he is sent to a professional for an evaluation,
usually a psychologist."

More than half
of the soldiers sent for evaluation receive low security
clearances, thus preventing them from serving in sensitive
IDF positions, he says.

Igor says exposing
soldiers who play the game could result in the soldiers
being sent to a military psychologist or even being kicked
out of the army.

"Exposing
them could also harm their chances at being accepted to
other military courses," he says.

Matan says he
has personally met soldiers whose military career was harmed
due to their connection to the game. Most soldiers who play
Dungeons and Dragons simply do not admit to it while they
are in the army, he says.

Why does IDF
believe game is dangerous?

"These people
have a tendency to be influenced by external factors which
could cloud their judgment, a military official says. "They
may be detached from reality or have a weak personality
- elements which lower a person's security clearance, allowing
them to serve in the army, but not in sensitive positions."

Unsurprisingly,
Igor, Matan and thier friends do not approve of this IDF
policy. They say the game is only a colorful, non-violent
hobby.

"Many people
who play served in the most classified units," David
says. "They are intelligent and any attempt to label
them as 'weird' is incorrect and unfair."

But in the struggle
between the gameplayers and the Defense Minister, the latter
wins - or at least this is the case in the real world of
the IDF.